Indian Women Writers at Home and Abroad

On the Outside Looking In(dian) analyzes works over the past century translated into or written in English by feminist Indian women writers such as Krupabai Satthianadhan, Rokeya Sakhewat Hossein, Maitreyi Devi, Kamala Das, Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, and others. These writers condemn patriarchal customs and laws for depriving Indian women – of all castes and classes, as well as women of other cultures – of their basic human rights by sanctioning child marriage, sati, purdah, and the wearing of the burqa, while prohibiting widow remarriage, the expression of sexuality, and the pursuit of an education to promote self-sufficiency, and equal economic, political, and social status with men.